A Peaceful Progress...

Look at me go! With my rejuvenated zeal for this project, I'm already 20% finished #77, The Golden Notebook. I'm still not really sure what to think of the book yet. Some parts are interesting, some not so much. As a result, some parts seems to be moving a little faster than others. And the way the book is written, I think I have a good idea of which parts are going to be the quicker reads. Regardless, this shouldn't be one that gets me bogged down too much.

One thing of note is a reference to another list book, something that has always interested me. In The Golden Notebook, one character calls another couple "The Gatsbys", an obvious reference to Fitzgerald's novel, to remark on their social nature.

I recall the first time a list book referred to another, when Gary from The Corrections was reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to his children. At the time I found it very interesting, and I suppose quite surprising. Having read an additional 64 list books, it isn't as surprising anymore but it is still interesting. To me anyway.

The last book to reference another, was White Teeth, which easily holds the current record for most references to other list books, with six. A Passage to India is read, Judy Blume, EM Forester, and Vladimir Nabokov are quoted, The Catcher in the Rye is burned, and Salman Rushdie is protested.

I suppose I should summarize all these references sometime...another day perhaps.

Was i, to take this drunkard for a god

My reading has continued at a good pace this week and according to my Goodreads account, I'm 80% through The Sheltering Sky.  I'm enjoying it very much, and as soon as I'm finished writing this, I look forward to returning to it.

I've decided that part of my good progress since 'the big one,' since Infinite Jest, is due to the fact that I've been throwing in a little non-fiction on the side.  As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I find reading some non-fiction works as a motivational tool, causing me to actually read more often.  When I have two books I'm enjoying, I'm eager to read both, but must split my time; therefore I read more often.  If I'm not enjoying one of them, I make reading some of it mandatory before continuing with the book I am enjoying, so again, I read more often.  So far I haven't run into an instance where I don't like either book, so I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it.

The non-fiction book I just finished is called God is not Great by Christopher Hitchens.  Obviously this is a very polarizing book, and I don't really have any desire to get into any kind of religious debate, despite my feeling so passionately toward one side.  What I can comment on is what a good writer Hitchens is.  I'd never read anything of his before, and had only seen him in interviews or debates, where he carries himself as well as anybody, mostly due to his uncanny ability to recall quotes, facts, examples, etc.  Said Martin Amis (author or the book Money, which is on The List), "With his vast array of geohistorical references and precedents, he is almost Google-like; but...Christopher's search engine is much more finely tuned."  In God is not Great, Hitchens uses this 'google-like' ability to explain why he doesn't believe in any god, and why he feels 'religion poisons everything.'

As far as The List is concerned, I have been able to find some relevance.  Throughout my quest, I have been noting when one book from The List mentions another book, or at least an author.  Well God is not Great takes the cake, making references to eleven different authors and five different books from The List.  Some references tied in nicely to the book's theme, like C.S. Lewis, a tireless promoter and defender of religion, and Salman Rushdie, whose work offended some religious types so much they ordered him executed.  Other times, such as when Hitchens quotes The Adventures of Augie March, it doesn't pertain to religion necessarily, but rather he quotes them because great writers are so good at putting their thoughts on paper, why not borrow from their genius to make a real impact.  After some background research, I did discover Hitchens' love of literature, it seems to be his true passion.  Perhaps this is why he turns to the literary world the way many would turn to, ironically, religion.  I guess Hitchens prefers to look to the good books for advice (Hitchens also can't resist a bad pun).

For those interested, the authors mentioned in one way or another in God is not Great are Salman Rushdie, George Orwell, Saul Bellow, C.S. Lewis, Ian McEwan, Evelyn Waugh, Anthony Powell, Graham Greene, Doris Lessing, Philip Roth and Joseph Heller.  As for books, Hitchens refers to Animal Farm, Nineteen Eighty-four, The Adventures of Augie March, Brideshead Revisited, and A Dance to the Music of Time.

I don't have any non-fiction reads ready to go right now, so my concentration will return solely to The List for the next few days.  I'll hopefully have number thirty four finished soon.  I'm still unsure of what thirty five will be, but am currently, as I type these words, staring at Gone with the Wind. And it's staring right back at me, I think daring me to read it.

#11 - "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie

Today is Friday, June 4th, 2010. Midnight's Children was due back to the Calgary Public Library on Tuesday, May 25th. I now owe them $3.15. Sure, it isn't much, but it is the first fine I've incurred on The List; a milestone of sorts. Apparently I should also be feeling a little guilty. It was suggested to me that since someone had put the book on hold, I should feel bad for depriving them of reading it for the past two weeks. I'd be lying if I said it was eating me up inside.

Midnight's Children is another excellent book from this list of great books; what a surprise. Written almost as an autobiography, Saleem Sinai serves as the story's narrator and main character, telling the tale of the 1,001 children who were born between midnight and one in the morning on August 15, 1947; the day India became an independent nation. Sharing a birth date, and birth time for that matter, with an entire nation, the children of the midnight hour are endowed with special powers. The closer to midnight they are born, the more powerful their powers. Saleem Sinai was born at the stroke of midnight, and serves as a quasi-leader for the group of Midnight's Children. The book follows Saleem from two generations before his birth to 'present' day, (the book was written in 1980) where Saleem has changed as much as, and alongside, India.

It's difficult not to sympathize with Saleem Sinai. His appearance leaves a lot to be desired. If he was being described to a friend, "has a great personality" would likely be used. Although endowed with telepathy, able to read pretty much anbody's mind at will, he is also cursed with a cucumber nose, sinus troubles, forceps scars, patchy hair, a missing finger, knock kneed legs, a bad ear, and less than average intelligence. A true walking disaster area. But despite his foibles, Saleem manages to survive different tragedies, both for his family and the nation, while he attempts to figure out why himself and all of the midnight children have been endowed with these special powers. It is it for their glory or for India's, will they serve as saviours for the new nation, or will they be patsies in it's demise?

I find it almost difficult to classify this novel, wanting to put it into so many different categories. I could argue it is a fantasy novel, talking of magical powers, magicians, charmers, telepathy, and time travel; things I would expect to see in Harry Potter perhaps. At the same time, I could classify it as 'historical fiction', with every major plot development coinciding with important events in India's young history, from independence, elections, war with Pakistan, nuclear development, to the Emergency.

But then again, maybe it isn't historical fiction, maybe it is a political commentary. When tackling many of the major issues India has faced in the past, Rushdie is often quite critical of the path the country took, and critical of its' leaders who guided it in these directions. Of course maybe it's a satire, filled with interesting characters, locations and situations, mocking the trials and tribulations that have plagued India since independence.

One thing is for certain, it is an excellent book. Normally, I would not be a fan of a book with such "magical" plot lines. I'm the type who would read about telepathy and think, 'RIGHT,' with a roll of my eyes, searching for the nearest World War II documentary. But in Midnight's Children it did not seem out of place, nor did it seem unbelievable. Set against the backdrop of real events, everything seemed to fit. I found myself not only engrossed in this story, but also engrossed in the history of India; the nation winning nearly as much sympathy as the cucumber-nosed, snot-faced, Saleem Sinai.



My twelfth book from the list will be The Corrections by Johnathan Franzen.

And after one more hour, 'twill be eleven

I've started my eleventh book on the list. After finishing Tropic of Cancer, I've moved onto another book of which I know little about; Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. As I mentioned earlier, Rushdie is the only thing I know about this book. I know he had a fatwa put out on him for his novel The Stanic Verses, and I recall hearing on Weekend Update many years ago, that he was also in trouble for another novel, Buddha, You Fat Bastard, but I'm not sure if that's legit or not.

So onto the eleventh book, a little less than six months into my journey. I guess at this rate, I'll finish in five years. At first thought, that seems a long, long time to be reading one list of books. But, then I remind myself that I probably haven't read 100 novels in my entire life, so it isn't as if I should be finished this list in a few months or something. And at the end, maybe I'll have something I can be proud of. Then again, maybe it'll be something like having the world's record for the longest time on a unicycle. I may be proud of it, but most people will think it a little ridiculous.